Water still cloudy green after last advice from Answers - help!

Question

My 5 year established tank is still mysteriously green after no environmental changes. Water still tests excellent on all levels. Got rid of white zeolite crystals but it is still cloudy green.

Is there some way to get that algae to land? I added a rock and 3 terra cotta flower pots for the algae to grow on - what more can I do?

I have a chinese algae eater and 2 one inch plecos that love eating what lands but they can't filter it out of the water.

Bought and installed a new Biowheel rated for a 50 gallon tank (for my 38 gallon tank). It's running great! And it made a dent in the cloud but it's still there. My light is only on from 9-5, M-F.

My tank is at work and I can't move it to another room--it's there or is disassembled in the dumpster. So that isn't an option. I've also started covering it up at the end of the day and on weekends, but I don't want my algae eaters to starve either.

Magical suggestions appreciated - I'm so tired of looking at a green tank everyday and hearing from our customers how ugly it looks. I don't want my boss to get mad and throw out the tank either. Help!

Answer 1

get more algae eaters, since the tank is 38 gallons get a bigger one. and if its cloudy clean the filters out once every day

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Unfortunately the type of algae that creates green water is a different type of algae from the kind that grows on things, so your attempts to get your algae to "land" are going to be fruitless.  Likewise, the algae eaters are not going to be able to eat it.  Other fish may eat it; I know guppy fry love eating free-floating algae and green water tanks are actually great for breeding guppies and other livebearers.  What you are growing in that tank is a free-floating diatom algae.  The cause is an overabundance of light and nutrients, so covering the tank when you can is a good start at fighting it.  

The only other thing I can think of that you can do is try to cut the amount of nutrients available in the tank for the algae to feed off of and starve it out.  You can do this by adding some fast growing plants that would outcompete the algae for nutrients.  This is not a quick cure, but it should help.  The fastest growing plants I know of that don't require a lot of light are java moss, java fern and watersprite.  You might also try cutting back on feeding the fish.  Any fish likely to eat free-floating algae will be more likely to do so if their other sources of food are cut off.

Other than that, the only thing I know of that can help fight green water are frequent water changes.